No fees paid no use - what is prepaid?
Plus my other big problem with the timeshare sales process as the sales people go through a big analysis showing over the course of x number of years the costs of hotel will continue to rise.... However, the costs of MFs have gone up faster! The sales person didn't show that to me!
The issue of (usually) ever rising fees is NEVER discussed at sales presentations, in fact the whole fee area is usually glossed over with a quick mention or two. I've never heard a sales person mention that over the long run the true cost of any timeshare will be the annual fees. The purchase price buys nothing but a right to use & own a week and the absolute obligation to paying whatever fees are imposed. Period.
Ask 95%+ of new, retail buyers how much the annual fes are and if they will stay the same or rise and you'll get a blank stare. They are left with the wrong impression that the (now) tens of thousands of dollars they just committed to has somehow purchased them a lifetime of great stays at the resort or in the system they just bought into or, at worst, an inexpensive way to parlay that ownership into easy trades virtually anywhere at anytime they want to go almost like phoning in for a hotel reservation but at a great savings for a much better (larger, more equipped) resort vs hotel room.
Any resale buyer is likely to know that trades are expensive and uncertain, renting is tough and likely prices depressed by massive oversupply and that purchase price gets you nothing but the need to pay the annual fees before you can use "your week".
A big reason why resales are depressed to the point of worthlessness is that understanding that most retail buyers simply don't have. They still, and aren't discouraged from, believing they are buying a regular real estate purchase that until the past bubble burst usually increased in value. The whole process of retail sales, while carefully avoiding calling it real estate due to laws, is set up to imply this is a great value and likely to get better with age. In fact it is the worst waste of money I've ever seen as even the top of the top lose at least 50% of the retail value on the day the rescind rights end - most are far worse. Wyndham or Wastegate, as two all too typical examples, drop 99% in resale value on that day. Owners stuck with payment agreement -often at outrageous annual interest - will NEVER come close to recovering that money.
So adding in the retail cost of virtually any resort or system along with the annual fees and taxes and you have "prepaid" nothing and those alleged "savings" over a hotel room, even considering the larger & more equipped timeshare unit, are gone. And you are tied to it indefinitely.
Substitute a resale for pennies on that retail purchase and, as TUG users know all too well, the whole picture changes. The only cost can be simply the annual fees which often come close or even beat rental values. You can easily buy only prime times which have the best use/trade/rental values. It can truly be a way to vacation in luxury at cheap cost IF the annual fees stay reasonable.
The only tough part are those fees. Over the years (nearly 20 now) we have discovered, as many even longer owners before us such as the incomparable Carolinian and Fern here on TUG, that owning where other OWNERS control the resort is one good place to start. It isn't a guarantee as owners can "cheap out" to the detriment of a resort but in general they tend to keep things up and hold fees as low as possible.
The other item that is critical is non-developer management. Besides often leaving them with far too much control over all aspects of the resort/system developer based management tends to see the resorts as income sources rather than running them as frugally as possible while maintaining the resort properly. High management fees set by percentage return, fees on things like special assessments raising those costs even higher, as well as demands that only "approved" contractors / services be used. All this and more can and does push annual costs up to the level that, as we are seeing at Manor Club, even the greatest resorts in the finest locations are priced so high that resale value is STILL near zero.
And that's for the best weeks - the 40 or more at seasonal resorts that aren't in demand can be another drag and non-performance again pushes up fees for all weeks.
Bottom line - buy resale, buy owner controlled, buy independently managed, buy to mostly use and plan on a zero value when you're done. Going in with those rules you'll likely have a great timeshare ownership & enjoyment that won't disappoint or cost an arm and leg to get rid of when the time comes. Buy retail, buy developer controlled and/or managed and think you have an "investment" or even a valuable item to resell and you will be nearly assured of serious disappointment and/or money lost.